Last year was my first year attending MJBizCon in Las Vegas. And while for some the event has long lost its luster, for a noob like myself, the four-day event was still packed with back-to-back events, meetings, and experiences.
With that being said, Vegas is not for the faint of heart. Four days of nonstop actions, and interactions is not cheap, or easy.
Thank The Sponsors
If you have the opportunity to have sponsors pay for the trip, that's my recommendation to start with. Last year, I was sponsored by Cloudbox, a third-party integrator that focuses on inventory and warehouse management.
The goal was lead generation. The Cloudbox boys had a product, but they needed customers, and they needed someone who spoke their customers' language. With a plane ticket, a room at the OYO, and a $100 per diem, the deal was sealed.
Early Birds
Traveling for work for me has always been fun. I arrived a day early (Monday), which turned out to be a nice break to game plan what the rest of the day would be like, including some shopping and sightseeing.
If you're just attending, you can probably avoid arriving Monday. But if you're exhibiting or looking to network, arrive Monday. Practice your speeches, double-check the decks, and make sure the QR codes are scanning.
Guerrilla Pop-Ups
While we were there to generate leads, as a group, we opted out of paying for booth space. The plan: guerrilla pop-ups. Find a spot, set up a demo, catch the fish in the break areas.
Now, I'm sure there are a lot of brands who would be pissed to find out a group of dudes who paid no money for a booth are taking people's attention, but I hope you can appreciate the counterculture theme the plant has always encouraged us to follow.
Booth Babes
The showroom was split into two parts, which will be consolidated into a single section this year. You can tell which booths spent big money to be here. The sheer size of some of these had me wondering how much the freight bill alone must have cost to truck all these exhibits down.
On the first day, the reps are on full alert. By the second day, you can see a lot more people sitting, downing hydration packets after a long night. Which leads to the real reason for shaking hands on the showroom floor: just to find out where the parties are at after.
Night Crawler
Now, here's the thing. Tuesday usually blends into the rest of the week if you're not careful. You spend all morning networking on the floor, but the license holders are barely landing, so you won't see them until late Tuesday or early Wednesday. By now people are making plans and setting up meeting spots.
I got invited to a bunch of parties, (thank god) including an event at the Sphere with Vireo and Surfside, and it's here where I learned my first lesson. Getting around Vegas is long and expensive. Each Lyft is $50, and it's going to take 30 minutes to get anywhere, even if it's five minutes away. I ended up being late to the Sphere event, turned away like a common street rat. My loss.
Wednesday and Thursday were kind of a blur. Between the late-night after-parties, I had also run into some local friends who had rare mushrooms I couldn't even pronounce. Remembering a clear timeline is impossible. You have to stay hydrated, bring a bottle, refill constantly, and avoid paying for plastic bottles. They cost as much as beer.
Which brings us to our next point…
Bring Ammo
While Vegas is a rec state, i didnt realize it wasnt allowed on the strip, so getting it isnt exactly easy. And even when i did find my way to Planet 13, i was dumbfounded at the notion of paying almost $70 for a pack of infused prerolls, 2.5g total.
I was lucky to find some random live diamond vapes left in the smoking area of MJbizcon, but i would not recommend depending on random inventory pickups in the wild. By no means is this encouragement to bring products across state lines…
Finish Line
By Friday, the Cloudbox gang and I had mostly split up. With many meetings falling through and funds running thin, the trip's end appeared near. I was already invited to a dinner with high school friends, owners of Vertical Supply Co., and several operators. Two extra seats opened up, and I was able to invite the Cloudbox gang.
We got to experience Las Vegas in all its glory in a nutshell. A dimly lit room with football playing in the background, expensive drinks, lavish meals, stories, laughs, and connections. Somehow, at the finish line, we were engorged with everything Las Vegas had to offer. Almost a poetic ending to an otherwise chaotic week.
Butterfly Effect
What I learned most about MJBizCon is it's not about the booths, the brands, or the business. It's about the people. As with most things in life, it's not about what you know, it's who you know. And the connections made here somehow find a way to ripple throughout the year.
All of us found ongoing work in one capacity or another, but more importantly, we found connections deeper than the handshakes.
